Fake Plastic Love
by light4dawn
Summary: A Canon Pre-Twilight One-Shot. It is a look at Jacob and Bella as children from Billy's point of view. It's kind of sad but hopefully poignant as well.


**Disclaimer**

_The following is based on the characters, settings, and events that appear in the Twilight series of books by Stephenie Meyer. All recognizable and/or trademarked elements, including, but not limited to, characters, settings, events, plot points, dialogue, etcetera, are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. The author of this specific story (known by the pen name, light4dawn) is in no way associated with Stephenie Meyer, or any other affiliates involved with the Twilight series of books and the stories within. This work is intended for entertainment purposes only, and no profit is knowingly generated as a result of it. Only aspects entirely unique and original to this story are owned by this story's author._

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

_This one shot is a canon, Pre-Twilight look at Jacob and Bella as children from Billy's point of view. It is a peek into their personalities and traits that will carry over into later events. The events of this story foreshadow the path their relationship will take in New Moon and Eclipse._

_Many thanks to Little Miss Mionie and Adt216 of PTB for doing such a great job beta'ing this story (and to Squeaky the moderator for this story at PTB)!_

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><p><strong>Fake Plastic Love<strong>*

Charlie was really nervous about having Bella this summer. This would be the first time she would be arriving and staying without Renee. He wasn't sure how to keep her entertained and happy, but he was determined to make her time in Washington memorable. He wanted to make sure she'd want to come back. I felt badly for him. I couldn't imagine seeing my children just once or twice a year. I knew Charlie loved that little girl just as much as I loved my girls and my son, so I decided to recruit Sarah, Harry and Sue to help keep Bella busy and happy this summer.

We already knew Bella was a little quiet and shy from her previous visits, but Renee had been with her then to help her adjust and keep her secure. She wouldn't be here this time. I wasn't sure how things would work out with the rest of the children. It was too bad Seth and Jacob weren't a few years older. They seemed to enjoy Bella's company a lot more than the girls. To be honest, Leah was just too wild and aggressive while the twins seemed too afraid to talk to Bella - but not too timid to go gallivanting after Leah, ignoring Bella completely.

Bella had been in Forks with Charlie for four days, and he told me today that she seemed to have adjusted well to the change in climate and surroundings. It was a warm, sunny day, so we decided to meet at the beach in La Push. Eight-year-old Bella had met all our children before, but it had been two years ago. Such young children were unlikely to remember each other after that length of time.

Sarah and I were hoping the girls would get along better now that all of them were older. Leah was about a year older than Bella, which shouldn't be such a big difference now, and the twins seemed to have calmed down a bit, becoming a bit more ladylike at their current prepubescent stage.

All the hopeful, positive expectations were shattered once I saw Charlie walking towards us on the beach with Bella. She was tiny, much smaller than any of the other girls. She looked about Jacob's size, but he was more than two years younger than her. She clung tightly to Charlie's hand, tripping over her own feet. I knew that active, athletic, tomboy Leah would have no interest in her, and the twins would see her as a baby. She was dressed in pink from head to toe, and I could see Charlie holding a life jacket and water wings which meant she wasn't much of a swimmer, either. The hand that didn't cling to her father's held a book. It was thick, more like a novel that a twelve-year-old might read, not a third-grader. That probably meant the boys wouldn't be interested in her either. I looked around, desperately trying to find something the children would want to do with Charlie's girl. It was hopeless; there was nothing here but sand, driftwood and water.

I was so intent in my search for some interesting shell or stone that I didn't notice Jacob running toward Charlie and Bella. When I looked up, Bella was no longer hanging onto her dad. Jacob was leading her by the hand to our picnic area, a big smile on his face.

"Daddy, look who it is! It's Bella!" I was pleased to see Jacob remembered her and seemed to like her. This was a good sign. I didn't even care that Leah, Rachel and Rebecca had already gone off on their own, ignoring our new guests.

"Yes, Jacob. I can see that Bella's here to play. We sure are lucky to have her visit with us," Sarah joined in. "What would you like to do, Bella? Jacob here is great at building sandcastles. Do you like building sandcastles?"

Bella looked downright terrified. She just stared at Sarah with those big brown eyes, unable to speak. Sue decided to try next.

"Seth, honey, take this bucket and go get some water. We're going to all build a sandcastle together. Bella, why don't you set that book down here next to me so it doesn't get wet?" Bella did as Sue suggested and sat down when Sue patted the blanket next to her.

"Hey, Bella, I'll build a castle for you! Do you like castles with rectangle towers or tube towers?" Jacob asked with a wide smile. Bella seemed to finally relax. She smiled back at him.

"I'm not sure... I like castles that princesses live in. What kind do you think Rapunzel lived in?" she asked.

"I bet it was a tube-shaped tower because those would be harder to climb. Is that your favourite princess?" Since when did Jacob care about princesses?

Jacob proceeded to build a very large, cylindrical tower just as Seth arrived with a bucket of water. He took the water to aid in his building, sending Seth back out to look for specific rocks, shells and twigs. Seth was such a cooperative child for a four-year-old.

I was proud of my boy. He found ways to involve Bella in the castle building, but he gave her fairly easy tasks she was able to do successfully. He praised every little thing she did, as though making a groove in the ground with her finger was the most pivotal part of the castle. Either he was absolutely enamoured by Charlie's little girl, or he had the maturity and empathy of a forty-year-old.

They worked like this for quite some time. Jacob was deep in concentration, making sure his turret was perfect, but kept talking to Bella, keeping her engaged. Bella seemed happy to sit and watch Jacob build, listening to his cheerful banter. Seth would come and go with various items to decorate the structure, stopping to ask questions and comment on how "awesome" Jacob's castle was.

It was great. Charlie was relaxed and enjoying a cold beer. All the adults were able to have a peaceful conversation with the boys keeping Bella happy and entertained while the girls were playing in the waves together just a few feet away from us.

Quite some time passed before the turret was finished, but what a grand structure it was. I was proud of my boy. I'd never seen anything so large and intricate from children twice his age. It was half as tall as him, complete with a moat, drawbridge, window, brick impressions and what looked like ivy winding around the outside.

Jacob searched around and finally picked up a thin, twisted driftwood twig and handed it to Bella with a wide smile.

"Here is the key to the castle," he said to her, handing her the twig. "It belongs to the most beautiful girl in the world." I could see Charlie and Sarah looking at them, beaming.

Bella took the twig from Jacob and quietly mumbled something that sounded like "thanks." Her cheeks turned a bright pink at hearing Jacob's declaration. She was just like Charlie. I decided to have some fun.

"Hey, maybe the princess should give the prince a kiss for building her a castle?" I shouted from my spot on the beach. Bella's face turned brighter, almost as red as strawberries. Even Jacob started to blush.

"Aw, Da-aad! Don't be dumb!" Jacob shouted back.

Bella examined the castle carefully, taking in all the intricate details, then looked at Jacob.

"It's really nice, just like the kind Rapunzel would live in," she said. Then she leaned over and quickly gave Jacob a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks," Jacob replied. The two of them stood there looking at the castle, all smiles, when another family started coming onto the beach.

They were from town. I had seen them before, but didn't know their names. They had a girl who looked about Bella's age with light brown curls that bounced as she skipped along the beach. She held two dolls, one in each fist. Following right behind her was her father holding a large, elaborate plastic castle. It had clear plastic on the windows, sparkles and rhinestones decorating the outside and what looked like a functioning drawbridge. They set up just a few yards away from us, smiling and nodding as they passed. I noticed Jacob looking at the shiny, store bought castle, then glancing at his own handy-work, frowning.

My heart went out to him. He looked so dejected, but I didn't want to say anything right now. I was just hoping that Bella would see the love and effort in Jacob's castle, rather than be seduced by the glittery, pink toy which was lifeless and cold. Of course, it was too much to expect of an eight-year-old child. Her gaze followed the giant pink castle as it passed us. I could see her eyes glaze over with desire as her whole body seemed to turn to follow the path of the other family. Without looking, almost trance like, she started walking toward the glittery toy. In the process, she ended up stepping right into Jacob's sandcastle, completely destroying it.

Charlie immediately stood up and grabbed Bella's arm. "Bella, honey, you knocked over the castle Jacob built for you. You should apologize to him."

Bella looked down around her, noticing for the first time that she had trampled all over Jacob's hard work. She looked horrified and turned to Jacob.

"I'm so sorry, Jake! It was an accident. What can I do? I can try to help you build it again. Please don't be mad at me."

Jacob seemed to cheer up a little, hearing her apology. "That's okay, Bella. It was an accident. I'm not mad at you." He smiled brightly at her as he took her hand to guide her to another spot on the beach. It was then that Leah and the twins started to stray too far. Sue and Sarah got up to chase after them. As soon as they got up off the blankets, a wind blew in scattering our towels and some of the girls' clothes. Charlie and Harry started chasing after them. I remained where I was.

Jacob and Bella had settled just a few feet away, digging in the sand, when the curly-haired girl took note of Bella and approached her.

"Hi, I'm Jessica. Want to come play princess castle with me? I have two princess dolls. You can pick which one you want to be. My castle has doors and windows that really open and close, and there's furniture inside, too!"

Bella looked just past the girl at the castle which had now been set up on a picnic blanket a few yards from us. Then, she looked over at Jacob's anxious, hopeful expression. Jacob's eyes welled with tears that he did his best to hold back.

"Do you mind if we play later, Jacob?" Bella asked. Jacob looked at his feet, dejected. When he didn't answer, Bella looked back at Jessica and asked her, "Can Jacob play with us, too?"

"I only have two dolls, and he's _a boy_!"

Bella looked again longingly at the castle as it glistened in the sunlight. Jacob followed her gaze, and I knew he was aware of what Bella wanted.

"It's okay, Bella. I wanted to go swimming anyway. We can play later," he answered. Bella broke into a happy smile, making Jacob smile back.

"Thanks, Jacob. See you later," she said, waving as she walked away.

I watched my boy's gaze follow Charlie's girl. He looked melancholy. It was a look entirely too mature for his six-year-old face. He looked happy that Bella was happy, but sad that his best effort wasn't enough for her.

Finally, his eyes left Bella's figure, and he sat in the sand with a very large stick. He proceeded to stab at the sand. He wasn't creating anything, just stabbing hole after hole in a repetitive, angry movement. My heart broke for my boy. I knew it wasn't Bella's fault, she was just a child, but I decided I wasn't going to bring Jacob over to play with Charlie's girl anymore. Something about her made Jacob far too susceptible. He was giving up too much for her happiness. It didn't seem appropriate considering how young he was and how little they knew each other. Usually, nothing got Jacob down, but this one incident was causing him more pain than anything else he had ever experienced in his six years of life.

I went to my boy and lifted him up in my arms. I gave him a big hug, telling him I loved him, and he was the best boy in the whole world. His expression barely changed. I sat on a driftwood log with Jacob on my lap, holding him tightly.

When nothing seemed to work, I finally said, "It's okay, Jacob. I know she still really likes you."

"Are you sure, Daddy?" he asked.

"I'm positive. Now, let's go see if we can find some toads to scare Rachel and Rebecca with. What do you say?"

His face broke into a lacklustre smile. "Sure, sure," he replied less than enthusiastically.

I put him on my shoulders and made my way off the beach, motioning to Sarah as I left. I wanted my sunny boy to be his usual happy self again. I knew it didn't make sense, but I just felt that the only way I could do that was to keep him away from Bella Swan. I ran with my boy on my shoulders as fast as my feet would take me.

For the first time, I was thankful that girl lived in Phoenix.

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><p><em>I hope all of you enjoyed my one shot! If you haven't already read it, I have a multi-chapter AU, JB story (currently a WIP that I try really really hard to update regularly) that is posted here and on Twilighted, as well. It begins in New Moon and continues into the timeline of Eclipse. It's called **Journey to a New Day**._

_*The title (Fake Plastic Love) of this one shot is taken from the Radiohead song Fake Plastic Trees (again, no copyright infringement is intended). I was going to go into a long explanation about the title but decided to let you figure it out on your own. You are free to ask me if you're curious, or not familiar with this song._


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